Open Your Arms

Chapter 6

March 29, 2003

I walk out of my empty apartment all alone. Despite my parent's best efforts to convince me to stay with them, I didn't want to. I could've, though. I still have my own bedroom there and some of my clothes, but I wanted to go back to my apartment. 

I go to my car, unlock it, and start driving to my parent's house. 

Jenn still lives with her parents and I find that really embarrassing. She's an adult and still living with her parents. I'm proud to say that I am on my own and I can survive with just myself. 

I know how to cook food, do laundry, clean up, everything. Most people assume that rich kids do not know how to live on their own. My parents were good parents growing up. They were normal. I lived a normal life with more leverage. 

Ville and I saw each other yesterday at Bam's house and decided to have a private conversation about what our next step was going to be. 

Considering that we've only known each other for less than a week, we were very hesitant on dating each other. We don't know anything about each other haven't really been able to have any alone time. 

So we hung out just us two all day yesterday. We went out to eat, we went bowling, and then we ate at a bar. After we hung out, he came over to my apartment and we talked about what our plan was. 

We decided that we should date. While we date, we are just going to get to know each other better through that. We both knew that we were going to date each other eventually, so why wait longer when we don't have to?

Today we are going to tell my family and Bam and Jenn. Since his family is all the way in Finland, my family is top priority on the list. 

Some might be hesitant to tell their parents that they're dating someone after only a day, but something feels different about Ville and I. I know that our relationship isn't going to be normal-in a good way-so we should just do things how we want to do it. 

Ville said that he's going to be staying for a month and then he has to go back to Finland. I don't know just yet if I'm going to go with him or if I'm going to stay here. We're going to talk about it in the future, but for now, we're not going to worry about it. 

When I arrive, I already see Bam's car. I feel terrible because this probably means that Ville was stuck alone with everyone in there. He's probably miserable. 

I fetch my key out of my pocket, then get out of my car and go to the front door to unlock it, but it's already unlocked. I put the key back and walk inside to find a bunch of chatter taking place. 

"And then he trips and falls on his face!" Bam yells, laughing hysterically. 

I walk into the kitchen and see everyone sitting down at the table. Ville is at the head of the table as everyone sits around as if they're admiring him. 

"Well, look who finally showed up," My dad says sarcastically. 

Hailey runs up to me and gives me a hug. I smile and kiss the top of her head. "Hi, Hailey."

"You're late...like always," She lets go of me and gently shoves me. 

"I know, I just can't seem to get a grip, can I?"

Ville walks up to me and waves. "Why hello there, sweethearts."

Hailey chuckles. "You shouldn't call every single girl you see 'sweetheart' otherwise you might give them a heart attack." She runs off to everyone else and I rest against the wall.